With the presentation of their “pitch” and an enthusiastic participation of the students and their teacher guides, the regional final of the CChC Valparaíso took place in the auditorium of the CChC Valparaíso. Build Academy Challengean initiative that seeks innovative ideas from young Higher Education students from all over the country, to improve construction.
Led by the Chilean Chamber of Construction and organized together with Construir Innovando, CDT, the Industrialized Construction Council (CCI) and Construye 2025 – and executed by Socialab -, the initiative thus had its “Pitch Day”, an opportunity in which the Participating teams presented, before a jury made up of members of the CChC Valparaíso, their innovation proposals aimed at making a contribution to the industry, in the areas of Productivity and Environmental Sustainability.
After going through an application and selection process, the teams that reached the regional final of the Challenge were: Team 1 “Total control” (Rodrigo Arias, Tomás Rojas, Didier Riquelme and professor Miguel Vera, from the University of Viña del Mar); Team 2 “Human Smart Absorb” (Carla González, Solange Martínez, Mitzi Valdebenito and Professor Alfredo Sherrington, from Universidad Santo Tomás); Team 3 “Wireless Walls” (Sebastián Villagra, Víctor Arancibia, Pierre Ramos and professor Samuel Varela, from Inacap Valparaíso); Team 4 “Responsibility and Reuse of Photovoltaic Panels” (Kevin Restrepo, Carolina Marambio, Maura Núñez and Professor Jesús Serrano, from Inacap Valparaíso) and Team 5 “The optimal prefabricated home for the island of Rapa Nui” (Ana María Pascual Teao, Danny Palma, José Uribe and Professor José Ignacio Torres, from the University of Las Américas).
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Winner of this regional final and selected for the national competition, Team 3 was “Wireless Walls” by Inacap Valparaíso, made up of Third Year students of the Energy Engineering degree.
Its proposal, in general terms, seeks to streamline the electrical installation process in the construction process. “During the construction process, various specialties participate, including the electrical area. The proposal consists of using a separating wall that has the electrical installation included within it, which will reduce labor, materials, supervision and other additional costs in the electrical field, allowing various savings in these matters,” they explained in their pitch.
It should be noted that the jury was made up of Sergio Adasme, CChC regional advisor; Paula Rielley, Socialab Communications Coordinator; and Pablo Oyarzún, coordinator of Quality and Training Relevance of the CChC, all of whom valued the quality of the proposals and the enthusiasm of the participants.
The regional vice president Christian Morales, president of the Sustainability and Innovation Commission, valued the process of this open innovation challenge of the Chamber and the associated institutions and the relevance with the strategic planning of the CChC Valparaíso.
“This challenge aims to connect the academy with the construction industry through the innovative ideas of Higher Education students from all over the country, promoting the transformation and future of our sector. “We recognize the value of innovation and the opportunity it gives us, promoting more productive and sustainable construction,” said the manager.
“We especially highlight the evaluation process of the projects fulfilling the stages of the challenge, and its link with the partner companies, which collaborated as sponsors to support the participants and enhance their proposals. Today the teams presented their projects at the “Pitch Day” and a jury made up of partners, to whom we are very grateful, selected a representative from our regional Chamber, who will advance to the mentoring phase. We are very happy as a union and especially because at CChC Valparaíso we have been committed to the issues of innovation, productivity and environmental sustainability,” commented Christian Morales.
130 APPLICATIONS
At the national level, the Challenge, whose call was aimed at Higher Education students of any major and area of the country, received more than 130 applications from all regions of the territory.
To participate, those interested had to form teams of three students plus a guiding teacher and present innovative ideas focused on improving the construction industry in the areas of Productivity or Environmental Sustainability.
“This Challenge seeks to encourage innovation in the construction industry and highlight the importance of linking the academy with the sector. The ideas and creativity of the students are essential to face the current and future challenges of our industry (…) In addition, their participation and the support of the organizers are essential to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity of our future professionals,” concluded Eduardo Hernández, head of Innovation at the CChC.
NEXT STEPS
Tamara Adarmes, Project Coordinator of the CChC Sustainability and Innovation Management, detailed the next steps of the competition for the representative team of the Valparaíso Region.
“The regional winning team”Wireless Walls” will receive mentoring to prepare the final presentation and will travel to Santiago with expenses covered, to be part of the national semifinal and final of the Challenge on behalf of the region, which will be held in the context of Expo Edifica 2024 (October 15 to 17 ). This is the most important construction fair in Latin America, where the winning team will be chosen and awarded with a trip to Latin America, within the framework of a CChC Mission in 2025, financed by the organization. And with all the opportunities for them that this mission represents,” he expressed.
In addition, Inacap Valparaíso students will present their project within the framework of the event Transfer Valparaíso Region 2024on August 1st.
WIRELESS WALLS
The project ““Wireless Walls” It consists of an insulated wall that has an internal alternating voltage supply and will eliminate plugs and the use of extension cords to connect electronic equipment. “In summary, with our proposal it is not necessary to work on the interior electrical installation related to the sockets, which will additionally allow the equipment to be electrically charged, simply by bringing the electronic equipment closer to the wall,” explained Víctor Arancibia, member of the winning team. .
Sebastián Villagra, meanwhile, referred to the benefits for the industry and productivity of his project. “Basically it is the electromagnetic charge through coils and this helps the industry, more than anything to streamline processes and achieve a more efficient way in the use of household appliances, electrical equipment and everything that has to do with the electrical system of a construction, such as a house or building,” he explained.
“The Rockers”, as the members of the winning team were nicknamed, valued the initiative and also invited young students from the region to dare to innovate and undertake.
“We are very happy and, well, we also have the goal of being able to improve our project even more, to be able to present it in a good way at the national final of Expo Edifica. We have to present it soon, so we are already preparing. We are very happy and very grateful for the opportunity,” commented Sebastián Villagra.
“It is a path that is beginning, since the technologies are slowly arriving and we have to take them and insert them in the industry, in construction, in electricity, that are efficient, because that is what we are looking for, at least in our career, energy efficiency. That’s why we focus a lot on that issue,” said Pierre Ramos, another of the “Rockers.”
“Finally, it is an invitation to young people to dare to innovate, to develop science, to develop technology and put it at the service of better construction. It is important that we can all contribute this innovation in construction, every idea always counts and, when it is well developed, the better. We should not be afraid to innovate or present ideas, because in reality it is just work and perseverance so that the ideas can bear fruit,” Villagra added.
